Founding Fathers

In 2012, Moderates Are the New Liberals

Dave Helfert | Posted 05.31.2012

Dave Helfert

The Legislative branch of our government is totally dysfunctional. Representatives and Senators used to point with pride to accomplishments. Today, they campaign on what they've stopped.

Reflections on the Earnest "Pursuit of Happiness"

Bob Banov and Roger Ohlsen | Posted 05.17.2012

Bob Banov and Roger Ohlsen

When you consider that the founding fathers of our country tried to provide us with the means for the actual separation between church and state, you ...

Election 2012: The End Of The Middle Of Everything

Howard Fineman | Posted 05.10.2012

Howard Fineman

Dick Lugar was a nice guy who stayed too long. But his crushing loss is also a valid data point in a profound and troubling trend, obvious not only in politics but in every other aspect of American life. We are losing the mediating middle of everything.

Take The Jefferson Quiz

Warren Throckmorton, Ph.D. | Posted 05.08.2012

Warren Throckmorton, Ph.D.

Two centuries after Jefferson left the presidency, he is still the subject of competing claims about his public policy and private views, especially on religion and state.

The Quest for the Perfect Political Panacea

Tom Gerdy | Posted 04.17.2012

Tom Gerdy

I didn't want it to come to this, but I have been pushed to my limit. I am announcing my candidacy for the presidency of the United States of America....

Constitution Is Clearly a Living Document

Byron Williams | Posted 04.16.2012

Byron Williams

The Constitution must be a living document if it is to represent those living today. The flaw in its inception would be its original intent excluded so many people.

Don't Tweet on Me! The Founding Fathers and Twitter

Scott Shamberg | Posted 05.28.2012

Scott Shamberg

Imagine giving our Founding Fathers, some of the most learned and intelligent men in history, a tool like Twitter. Would humility win the day or would the draw of casting immediate stones outweigh etiquette?

The Founders' Immigration Policy

Alex Nowrasteh | Posted 05.28.2012

Alex Nowrasteh

To truly reform immigration, we should look back to the nation's first immigration and naturalization laws, which are a far cry from restrictive laws in Arizona and Alabama.

Taking Its Place in History...

Lyle Denniston | Posted 05.27.2012

Lyle Denniston

By week's end, America will have witnessed a deeply serious and probably quite revealing conversation about the Constitution and what it might mean 225 years after it was written.

Belief Alone Is No Basis for Public Policy

Nathaniel Frank | Posted 05.07.2012

Nathaniel Frank

Conservatives have spent generations accusing liberals of moral relativism and "anything goes" indulgence in their feelings or whims. But is a belief any less arbitrary of a foundation for the giving or taking away of people's rights?

Gingrich In Video Which Claims the Constitution Is Based On the Old Testament

Bruce Wilson | Posted 05.04.2012

Bruce Wilson

The reality is that the former Speaker of the House, who led the stealth Republican takeover of the House and Senate in the 1994 election, has been a strong partisan of the religious right for decades.

Pragmatic Snowe's Departure From Senate a Shock but Not a Surprise

Jim DiPeso | Posted 05.01.2012

Jim DiPeso

Olympia Snowe's ethic of reaching across the aisle to solve the nation's problems seems a relic of a bygone time, when politics was the art of the possible rather than trench warfare.

Beware Of The Politicostals! The Catastrophic Threat Of Religious Capitalism In The U.S.

Sarah O'Leary | Posted 05.01.2012

Sarah O'Leary

U.S. Religious Capitalism, humbly defined, is the buying and selling of American souls for the purposes of gaining political and economic power.

Accepting The Obvious: Faith Is An Integral Part Of American Public Life

James Robison | Posted 04.29.2012

James Robison

Historians recognize that our most cherished beliefs as Americans are branches of a tree with Judeo-Christian roots. Of course, one can share these values without being a Christian or Jew.

Was America Founded as a Christian Nation?

Richard Geldard | Posted 04.28.2012

Richard Geldard

What could be clearer than "the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion?"

Pitchers, Catchers... and Signers Report: a Founding Fathers Baseball Dream Team

Michael Simzak | Posted 04.23.2012

Michael Simzak

If the framers of the Constitution were a baseball team, who would they be and what position would they play?

Honoring Our 'Founding Sisters' And Empowering Women This President's Day

Carol Peasley | Posted 04.21.2012

Carol Peasley

Presidents' Day in the United States is an interesting holiday. For some of us, it is a day off work when we can get exceptional "deals" on cars, matt...

WATCH: The Fascinating Story Behind President Jefferson's Secret Bible

Harry R. Rubenstein and Barbara Clark Smith | Posted 02.20.2012

The first presidential candidate to face attack for his religious beliefs was Thomas Jefferson, in the campaign against incumbent John Adams in 1800. ...

What "Liberty/Liberté" Tells Us About Slavery, Black History, and Raw Nerves

Louise Mirrer | Posted 04.09.2012

Louise Mirrer

Why has a work by the African-American artist Fred Wilson -- an installation piece that riffs on the topic by assembling authentic slave shackles, slave chains and Revolutionary-era icons -- been such a sore point with critics? We must have struck a raw nerve.

Ron Paul, Rand Paul, and the Oppressive Nature of "Small Government"

Carl Gibson | Posted 04.01.2012

Carl Gibson

For two men who campaigned on getting government out of the lives of private citizens, it's incredibly hypocritical to oppose a woman's right to do what she wants to with her own uterus.

Right-Wing Band Plays For Occupy Congress

The Huffington Post | Arin Greenwood | Posted 01.20.2012

WASHINGTON -- Patrick Gavin writes in Politico about the right-leaning band that received a surprisingly warm reception when they played at the Occupy...

The Constitution's 225th Anniversary Is a Call to Action

David Eisner | Posted 03.20.2012

David Eisner

The democratic process outlined 225 years ago provides us with the power to shape and reshape our government. Freedom is calling. It's up to us to answer that call.

Gitmo And Hypocrisy: Selectively Living By The Intentions Of The Founders And The Bible

Julie Ingersoll | Posted 03.19.2012

Julie Ingersoll

Yet exactly half of those first 10 amendments in the Constitution, that we call the Bill of Rights, explicitly protect the rights of the accused.

When Did Americans Lose Their British Accents?

Mental Floss | Posted 03.19.2012

The United States was a British colony for more than 150 years and they share a common language, but at some point, the way the citizens of both count...

How Michael Moore Can Help Bring Real Political Change to America

Pearl Korn | Posted 03.11.2012

Pearl Korn

Our nation deserves a better government, Michael Moore, and you are one of the few people with the ability to actually help make that happen.